


What If?

by anakintrashAF



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-12
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-19 20:03:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5979457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anakintrashAF/pseuds/anakintrashAF
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Padmé Amidala goes with Obi-Wan Kenobi to confront Anakin Skywalker on the planet of Mustafar, after he has killed all of the Jedi younglings and the Separatists. Unlike in the movie, Obi-Wan stays aboard the ship, and Padmé convinces Anakin to come with them. Palpatine has already created his Galactic Empire, and Yoda failed to defeat him. Obi-Wan and Yoda both know that Anakin must be the one to kill Palpatine, but is Anakin of the right mind to do so?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mustafar

Padmé's POV

We had landed on the volcanic planet of Mustafar. I was so nervous to see Anakin again. Even though I had only seen him the night before, it felt like years. So much had changed since then; I’d learned so much, things I never hoped to learn. Obi-Wan was fully convinced that Anakin had turned to the dark side; I was not. Even if he had, if he would return with me, I knew that I would forgive him. I knew that there was light in him, regardless of what he had done. 

I took a deep breath, stood up, and started to walk off of the ship. Obi-Wan observed me from his hiding place.

“Obi-Wan,” I said, “whatever you do, do not come out until I come back with Anakin. I know that I can get through to him.”

Obi-Wan sighed. “I hope that you can.”

I walked out of the ship and stepped down onto the rocky ground that was Mustafar. I spotted Anakin, but he had spotted me first; he was already running to me, arms wide open. I ran to him; we embraced roughly.

“I saw your ship,” he said, as we embraced. He pulled away from me and looked at me with concern. “What are you doing out here?”

“I was so worried about you,” I replied, through heavy breathing. “Obi-Wan...told me terrible things.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “What things?”

“He said...you’ve turned to the dark side, that you...killed younglings,” I said, worriedly. I prayed inside that none of this would be true.

“Obi-Wan is trying to turn you against me,” he said, calmly.

“He cares about us,” I said. 

“Us?”

“He knows,” I said. “He wants to help you.” 

Anakin smirked at me. He clearly didn’t believe me.

“Anakin, all I want is your love,” I said.

“Love won’t save you, Padmé,” he said. “Only my new powers can do that.”

“At what cost?” I asked. I was beginning to see now the person that Anakin had become. “You’re a good person, don’t do this!”

“I won’t lose you the way I lost my mother,” Anakin said, shaking his head at me. “I have become more powerful than any Jedi has ever dreamed of, and I’m doing it for you. To protect you.”

No, I thought. “Come away with me,” I pleaded with him. “Help me raise our child. Leave everything else behind while we still can!”

“Don’t you see? We don’t have to run away anymore!” Anakin said, smiling. “I have brought peace to the Republic. I am more powerful than the Chancellor. I--I can overthrow him, and together you and I can rule the galaxy; make things the way we want them to be!”

I shook my head, tears rolling down my cheeks. For a few moments, I couldn’t speak. “I don’t believe what I’m hearing,” I said. “Obi-Wan was right! You’ve changed.”

Anakin wouldn’t look at me for a moment. Then, he said, “I don’t want to hear anymore about Obi-Wan. The Jedi turned against me, don’t you turn against me!” He was angry.

I shook my head. “I don’t know you anymore,” I sobbed. “Anakin, you’re breaking my heart! You’re going down a path I can’t follow.”

“Where is Obi-Wan?” Anakin asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter,” Anakin said. “He has turned against me! Surely he wants to kill me now.”

“No,” I said. “Obi-Wan doesn’t want to kill you. I promise. He just wants you to stop hurting people.”

“I told you, my loyalties lie with the Chancellor,” Anakin said. “Obi-Wan has turned against the Chancellor, as the Jedi have. They are against me.”

“Anakin, that is not true!” I said. “Obi-Wan just wants to help you. He wants to help us. He’s not angry with you; he’s worried about you. He’s been like a brother to you, Anakin. Don’t forget that.”

Anakin looked down for a while. When he looked back up, tears were in his eyes. “How will I save you if I betray Palpatine?” he cried. “I can’t lose you!”

“Anakin, I would rather die than see you turn to the dark side for me,” I said. “Seeing you turn to the dark side will kill me before childbirth will.”

Anakin sighed. “Padmé--I’m so lost.”

I reached up and cupped his face in both of my hands. “Anakin, come away with me. We’ll go to Naboo, have our child, and live in peace. Should I die, well, at least you won’t have turned to the dark side. If you turn to the dark side, it will kill me for sure.”

Anakin looked down and then looked back up at me, smiling through his tears. He cupped his hands around my face. But then his smile disappeared and he dropped his hands. “How will you forgive me for these things I’ve done?” he asked.

“What happened is in the past, Ani,” I said. “We need to focus on the future now.”

“The Jedi are all dead,” he said. “All because of me. If I hadn’t let Palpatine live and kill Mace Windu, he wouldn’t have issued Order 66.”

“It’s alright, Ani,” I said. “You didn’t know what he was intending to do.”

“But I killed them, Padmé,” he said. “I killed them all.”

“We’re not talking about the sand people again, are we?”

"No," he said. "I killed them. The...the..." He trailed off and looked down.

"So it is true. You killed the younglings." I hadn't really believed it before, but now, as Anakin himself told me, I knew it to be true.

Anakin looked down for awhile. When he looked up, he was crying again. “As I was about to do it, I knew that it was wrong. I almost didn’t do it; I wish I hadn’t. I just thought of everyone and everything that had ever hurt me in life and took out all of my anger on them. I wouldn’t have been able to do it if I hadn’t become so angry. But Palpatine had ordered me, and I knew I couldn’t disobey, or Mace Windu’s fate would be mine, or you would die. I know that’s not an excuse. I will never forgive myself for killing them; not ever.”

“You have to,” I said. “You have to move on.”

“That’s not all I did, Padmé,” he said. “Do you know why I came here? The real reason why?” I didn’t say anything. “I killed the Separatists. All of them. They were evil, but it’s not the Jedi way.”

“Ani, you are married and have a child on the way,” I said. “You have broken the Jedi code many times over.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Anakin said. “The Separatists needed to be done away with, but not like that.”

“Ani, I forgive you,” I said.

He looked at me with shock. “You...you forgive me?” he stuttered. “After all that I’ve done?”

“I love you with my entire being, Ani,” I said. “I couldn’t stay mad at you if you put your hands around my neck.”

“But I brutally murdered thirty children,” Anakin said.

“The past is the past,” I said. “I do not condone what you did, but I forgive you. We must move on.”

Anakin pulled me up against him and wrapped his arms around me tightly. “I love you, Padmé,” he whispered, “so much.” He kissed the top of my head.

“I love you too, Ani,” I said. “We should return to the ship. I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“I don’t either,” Anakin said. “We should go.”

We walked back onto the ship and closed the door. 

“Obi-Wan is here,” Anakin said.

I turned to look at him, afraid that he would be angry, but if he was, his face didn’t show it.

“I was afraid you would be angry if I told you,” I said.

Obi-Wan, as if on cue, walked in. 

Anakin acknowledged him. “Master.”

Obi-Wan, for once, had nothing to say back to him.

“Anakin is coming with us,” I said. 

“If Obi-Wan does not intend to kill me,” Anakin said.

“If you do not intend to kill me,” Obi-Wan said.

Anakin looked at Obi-Wan with deep regret. “Master...I could not kill you. You are my brother.”

Obi-Wan couldn’t help but smile. “We have much to discuss, Anakin,” he said.

Anakin hung his head like a child thief caught stealing. “Yes, Master,” he said.


	2. "I Forgive You"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padmé are now on their way to the asteroid Polis Massa

Anakin's POV

Padmé was asleep. I was sitting in the cockpit, alone. Obi-Wan still had barely spoke to me, which I found unnerving. 

As I was sitting alone, the enormity of what I’d done truly hit me. The younglings I’d killed would never take the trials, never become padawans, never grow up to become great Jedi knights; and I was the one who had deprived them of that. 

I took my lightsaber out of my pocket and turned it over in my hands; the weapon that I had used to slaughter innocent children. I thought of when I had once been an innocent child; I’d said to Qui-Gon, “No one can kill a Jedi.”

How ironic.

Obi-wan walked into the cockpit and sat down beside me. For a few minutes, neither of us said anything. What was there to say? ‘Sorry I killed all of the younglings, caused the deaths of almost all of the Jedi, and turned to the dark side.’ ‘Sorry’ just didn’t suffice to make up for the things I’d done; it didn’t even come close.

“Your mental shields are down.” It was Obi-Wan who broke the silence.

I hadn’t even noticed; in my weakness, I must have let them down. “What did you see?”

“You’re at a loss of words,” Obi-Wan said. “You’re confused. Lost. You regret what you did, but you don’t know how to atone for it.”

I looked down and nodded. He was spot-on.

“I wasn't sure if you could be saved, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said. “Very few have ever gone to the dark side and returned to the light. I am still worried that you will revert to the dark side.”

I looked up and finally made eye contact with him. “I couldn’t do that to Padmé,” I said. “Not now, knowing what it would do to her if I did turn.”

Obi-Wan titled his head to the side a little bit. “This is about Padmé, isn’t it?”

I nodded. He knew about us already; there was no sense in trying to hide it.

“What, in the name of the galaxy, made you think that Padmé would ever want you to turn to the dark side?”

“No, it’s more than that,” I replied. I sighed; I had to explain the truth to him. “I dreamed every night that she died in childbirth. The thought of her dying--it...it was unbearable to me...and…”

I didn’t need to finish my sentence. Obi-Wan knew; he almost always did. “You thought that you could save her by using the dark side of the force.”

“I was just going to use the dark side to save her...but continue to be a Jedi,” I said. “I would have remained light in all other ways.”

“No,” Obi-wan said, shaking his head. “That is precisely the logic that leads to the dark side. You think that if you only do one dark deed, that you can still remain light in all other ways. One dark deed leads to two, then to five, until you’ve completely given yourself over to the dark side.”

I sighed, but I knew he was right. “Palpatine found out about my nightmares--I’d never even told him, but somehow he knew, and he told me that only the power of the dark side could save Padmé…” Talking about it now, out loud, with Obi-Wan, I realized just how foolish and naive I had been to believe Palpatine. 

“You cannot let your attachments get in the way of you doing your duty, nor in the way of your rational train of thought,” Obi-Wan said. “That is a hard lesson we must all learn.”

“I should have known that the last thing Padmé would have ever wanted me to do was to go to the dark side to save her,” I said. “I was selfish.”

“Well, it seems that Padmé forgives you,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m angry with you or relieved that you’ve come with us.”

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“We are meeting Master Yoda on Polis Massa,” he said.

“Where is that? Master Yoda is alive?”

“Polis Massa is an asteroid located in the Subterrel sector of the Outer Rim,” Obi-Wan replied, calmly, “and yes, Master Yoda is alive.”

“Are any of the other Jedi alive?” I asked.

“None that we know of yet,” Obi-Wan said, “but there may be surviving Jedi who are in hiding.”

“Are we going to go find them?”

“We will discuss that with Master Yoda,” Obi-Wan replied, “and we will also discuss your future with him.”

I looked down, ashamed. “What do you believe will happen to me?”

“I don’t know,” Obi-Wan admitted. “Master Yoda is forgiving, but he will do what is in the best interest of the galaxy.”

I nodded. “I understand.”

“You killed...y-younglings,” Obi-Wan stammered. “That cannot be easily forgiven.”

I burst into tears. I was embarrassed, that I was bawling in front of Obi-Wan, but at the same time, I was so filled with regret and sorrow that I didn’t care. “I regret what I did,” I sobbed. “I hate myself for it. If no one besides Padmé ever forgives me, I understand. I don’t deserve anyone’s forgiveness.”

“Anakin--”

“Even if every other person in the entire galaxy forgives me, I’ll never forgive myself.” Now I was nearly yelling. “I’m not a good person, Obi-Wan. Don’t you see that? I never have been. I--”

“Anakin, that isn’t true.”

“I never told you.” I was ranting, and I wasn’t going to stop. “I killed an entire village of Tusken raiders on Tatooine. I spared no one. They--”

“Anakin.”

“They killed my mother, Obi-Wan. I--”

“Stop it, Anakin!”

I stopped, taken aback by Obi-Wan yelling. No matter how angry he had been at me, he had never yelled at me; only scolded and lectured.

“Anakin,” he continued, softly, “despite what you’ve done, I know that you were a good man. The person you were is still there.”

“Obi-Wan--”

“I forgive you.”

He gazed at me intently with his bright blue eyes; the way he looked at me, I knew he meant what he said.

“Master, I--”

“Despite the heinous acts you have committed, despite the fact that you became everything I hate, everything I seek to destroy--I forgive you,” he said, “and I probably shouldn’t, but I do.”

I couldn’t help but smile through my tears. I knew that the last thing that I deserved right now was Obi-Wan’s forgiveness, but it meant the world to me regardless. I fell into his embrace, burying my face into his shoulder.

“You’ll always be my brother, Anakin.”

\------------

Obi-Wan fell asleep in the cockpit. I went back to check on Padmé. She was still asleep. I stood there and watched her sleep for a few minutes, still struck by her beauty, even after all these years. 

I went to leave, but accidentally knocked something over. The noise startled Padmé. She immediately sat up and started looking around the room. When she saw that I was there and that I had been the cause of the noise, she relaxed and laid back down.

“Ani,” she whispered.

“Padmé,” I said, as I approached her. “My beautiful angel.” I ran my fingers through her hair. She closed her eyes and smiled.

Suddenly, her eyes popped open. “Anakin, the baby is stirring.”

I lifted up her shirt and ran my hand over her bare, swollen belly. “You’re getting close to your time, aren’t you?”

“Any day now,” she said. “I’m worried for our child.”

“Why?”

“What if this Galactic Empire cannot be defeated?” Padmé worried. “They will be searching for us for the rest of our lives; they will try to take our child from us and train them to be the next Sith apprentice. I don’t want our child to live in a galaxy like that, where we are always running away from everything.”

“We will defeat the Galactic Empire,” I promised, “and everything will be set right. The democracy you love will be returned to the galaxy, and we will live in peace and raise our family. I promise.”

“Oh, Ani.” She rested her hand over my hand, which still rested on her stomach. “I hope so.”

I leaned down and planted kisses all over her stomach. “All I want,” I breathed, between kisses, “is for you and our child to be safe.”


	3. The Twins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Padmé goes into labor and gives birth to the twins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the update was slow! I've had a lot going on and this chapter was a bit longer than the first two

Third Person POV

“Anakin, wake up,” Padmé whispered, as she fervently shook her husband. He had fallen asleep beside her just hours before on a cot meant for one.

“What is it, Padmé?” Anakin yawned, stretching his muscled arms out behind his head.

“The baby’s coming,” she said.

Anakin sat up immediately. “Oh, sith!” he exclaimed, getting out of bed. “Obi-Wan!” he yelled, running out of the room toward the cockpit.

Obi-Wan jolted awake. “What? What, Anakin?” 

“Padmé. She’s going into labor.” Anakin was nearly hyperventilating.

“Oh my,” Obi-Wan said. He was significantly calmer than Anakin. “We are an hour away from Polis Massa. She should be fine.”

“I don’t know,” Anakin said, worriedly. “I hope so.” 

Anakin hurried back to where Padmé lay, writhing in pain. He knelt next to her and took her hand in his. “My love,” he said, fervently. “My beautiful Padmé. Please, stay with me.”

She squeezed his hand as she had another contraction. “Anakin, I’m not going to die. I already promised you.”

“I know,” Anakin said. “I’m just afraid that it’s a promise that you won’t be able to keep.”

Anakin felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Obi-Wan. 

“Master,” Anakin breathed.

Obi-Wan grinned a little bit; it always brought a smile to his face when Anakin called him “master,” especially since he hadn’t been Anakin’s master in a few years. 

“Anakin don’t be afraid,” Padmé said, through her heavy breathing, as she rubbed her thumb across the back of his hand. “It won’t do either of us any good if you worry. All we can do is have faith.”

“She’s right, Anakin,” Obi-Wan agreed.

“Of course she is,” Anakin said. “Padmé's always right.” He said it without even the slightest bit of sarcasm.

Padmé wailed as she had another contraction, squeezing Anakin’s hand so hard that he winced. 

“Obi-Wan, is it normal for her to be in this much pain?” Anakin asked, worriedly.

Obi-Wan hesitated for a moment. “Yes, I think so,” he said.

“Anakin, I’ll be fine,” Padmé said, even though she didn’t sound fine at the moment.

Anakin decided that his best option was to trust their judgment, though he wasn’t sure how Obi-Wan would know anything about childbirth. He held Padmé's hand, which she squeezed whenever she was in extreme pain. About an hour later, Obi-Wan landed them in Polis Massa. 

Obi-Wan ran off of the ship immediately, yelling for medical help. Anakin picked up Padmé and carried her in his arms off of the ship. They were met by a team of medical droids with a stretcher. Anakin laid Padmé down on the stretcher, and the medical droids wheeled her into the medical facility, with Obi-Wan and Anakin following close behind.

“You care about her, too,” Anakin said to Obi-Wan, as they followed Padmé and the medical droids. “Don’t you?”

“Of course,” Obi-Wan replied. “She’s been a friend of mine for many years; since before I met you, Anakin.”

Anakin nodded, not really believing Obi-Wan. When Obi-Wan sensed that Anakin didn’t believe him, he allowed Anakin to see through his shields enough so that Anakin could see Obi-Wan’s true feelings toward Padmé. When Anakin saw that Obi-Wan was telling the truth, he was relieved.

The medical droids wheeled Padmé into a small room, with glass walls on all sides. Anakin observed that Master Yoda was standing behind one wall, looking in. Yoda looked directly at Anakin, but Anakin avoided his eyes, ashamed. Anakin followed the medical droids into the room with Padmé. When he did so, the medical droids looked at him quizzically.

Anakin stopped in his tracks. “May I stay with her?” he asked. The droids still looked confused. “I’m her husband,” he elaborated. 

One of the droids waved their hand in a gesture, as if to say, ‘Come in.’ Anakin looked back at Obi-Wan, waiting for him to follow.

“I am going to speak to Master Yoda,” Obi-Wan said. “There are matters to discuss.” Anakin knew that he was one of them, and looked down at the ground in shame. He turned away from his  
former master and walked toward Padmé, kneeling at her side and taking her hand in his. Now, she was pushing, at the direction of the medical droids. They had quickly changed her out of her outfit and into a white gown.

“You can do it, Padmé, my love,” Anakin whispered in her ear. “I have faith in you.” It deeply pained Anakin, to see one of the strongest people he knew crying out in agony. He was sorely afraid that she would not survive and this would be his last memory of her--her screaming and crying as she labored and died slowly. What if the child didn’t survive either? Anakin didn’t want to think about how it would kill him if that happened. 

As Padmé was giving birth, Obi-Wan and Yoda discussed Anakin’s fate. After Yoda and Obi-Wan had greeted each other, Obi-Wan asked, “Master Yoda, what is to become of Anakin?”

“Hmmmm. Meditate on this, I must,” said Yoda, not looking at Obi-Wan.

“I do not condone his actions in any way, shape, or form,” Obi-Wan explained, “but he is very remorseful and angry with himself.”

“Foresaw trouble in young Skywalker’s training, I did,” Yoda replied, “but of such magnitude, I did not.”

“I am to blame,” Obi-Wan said. “If only I had taken him with me to fight Grievous, this would not have happened.”

“For this to blame, you are not,” said Yoda. “Of his own actions, young Skywalker is responsible.”

“I was distant and aloof from him, Master Yoda,” Obi-Wan said. “I--”

Yoda held up a hand, as if to tell him to stop speaking. “Resolve this with Skywalker, you must,” he said.

“I don’t want to distress him in a time like this by discussing it with him,” Obi-Wan said.

“Face the consequences of his actions, young Skywalker must,” Yoda replied. “Speak with him again, you will.”

“Yes, Master Yoda,” Obi-Wan answered, bowing his head in submission. “What are we to do about Chancellor Palpatine?”

“Calls himself Emperor, he does now,” Yoda said. “What we are to do will come to me in time. Meditate on this, I will.”

Obi-Wan sighed in annoyance. He didn’t care if Yoda knew he was annoyed; Obi-Wan knew that Palpatine, or rather, Darth Sidious, was becoming more powerful by the minute, and if they didn’t decide what to do about him soon, they wouldn’t have a chance against him. Sidious would only continue in his quest to annihilate the Jedi and they would live the rest of their lives constantly running, living in fear, unless they did away with him quickly.

Back inside of the room, Padmé continued to push. The longer her labor went on, the more concerned Anakin grew. He tried not to show his distress; he knew that he had to stay strong for Padmé. 

Finally he asked one of the medical droids, “How is she doing? Is she stable?”

“She is perfectly healthy,” replied the medical droid, in its monotone. “It is normal for her to experience pain of this magnitude, especially since she is giving birth to twins.”

“Twins?”

“Yes,” the droid answered. “A boy and a girl. The boy is coming first, then the girl.”

Anakin grinned. “Padmé, did you hear that? We’re having twins!” He couldn’t contain his excitement, even though he knew that twins would be a lot more work than one baby and he still feared for Padmé's life. Anakin tried to push away his fear as much as he possibly could; he wanted to be excited, for Padmé and for his children.

Padmé looked at Anakin out of the corner of her eye, and smiled at him. Even now, through all of her pain, she was overcome with love for him as she looked at him. Had she not been hurting so, she would have leaned over and kissed him.

A few minutes later, Padmé gave a big push, and the medical droids were able to pull the boy baby out. The child’s cries filled the room, and Anakin and Padmé smiled, even though Padmé was still in labor. The medical droids cleaned the baby off with a towel, and he started to calm down a little bit. Anakin let go of Padmé's hand and stood up, approaching the medical droids. “May I hold my son?” he asked.

The medical droid holding the baby wrapped him in a clean white blanket and then handed him to Anakin. Anakin gently took the child in his arms. He looked down at his newborn son, brushing the blanket out of the child’s face with his fingers so that he could have a better look. The baby cooed, and Anakin laughed aloud. He walked over to Padmé with the child and knelt down next to her so that she could see their son.

Padmé smiled at her son. She winced as she gave a final push, and then they heard the cries of their newborn daughter. Anakin handed their son to Padmé, and she took him in her arms. Looking at him and holding him in her arms for the first time, she was overcome with love for him. Anakin received their newborn daughter from one of the medical droid, cradling her in his arms. He couldn’t believe how much he loved his children already, even though they had just been born. 

Anakin walked over to Padmé with his daughter and leaned down so that she could see her daughter, too. “We’re parents, Padmé,” he said, grinning, “and you’re alive. Mother of moons, you’re alive.” He kissed her cheek. “I have never been so relieved, so elated in my life.”

Padmé looked down at her son, then looked back up at Anakin. “I want to name him Luke,” she said.

“I like that,” Anakin said. He looked at his daughter. “I want to name her Leia.”

“Leia?”

Anakin nodded. “I’ve put a lot of thought into this.”

“Luke and Leia,” Padmé said, dreamily. “I love it.”

Anakin felt a presence of the force in his room, other than himself and his children. He looked behind him to see Obi-Wan.

“Master,” he smiled, “would you like to see your niece and nephew?”

Obi-Wan chuckled. “Niece? Nephew?”

“Of course,” Anakin grinned. “I told you, you’re my brother.”

“Anakin--”

“They’ll call you Uncle Obi-Wan. I’ll make sure of it.” Anakin stood up and gently placed Leia in Obi-Wan’s arms.

Obi-Wan gazed upon his best friend’s daughter with a smile; he looked like he was about to cry. He stepped forward to stand next to Anakin instead of behind him so that he could see Luke better. Anakin could feel the love emanating from his former master.

“You love them, master,” Anakin said to Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan turned to face him. Now there were tears in his eyes; Anakin hadn’t seen such a display of motion from him in many years. “They’re beautiful, Anakin,” said Obi-Wan, one tear falling on his cheek. “I adore them.”

Anakin put his arms around Obi-Wan’s broad shoulders. “Master,” he breathed. “My brother.”

As Padmé recovered, they all stayed close to each other, telling old stories about the war--not stories about the battles, or of those who were lost, or of the pain that was endured, but of the few occasions where they were able to get a respite from the war, times when they’d been able to enjoy themselves, to laugh. Here and now, they smiled and laughed more than any of them had in the last few years. The war had hardened them all, but in this moment, they forgot about that, forgot about the battles that tomorrow might bring. All that mattered in this moment was that Padmé was alive, Anakin had returned to the light, and they were all reunited, like it had been before.


	4. The Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin learns in this chapter what will become of him and his family, and how the remaining Jedi plan to overthrow the Emperor.

Anakin's POV

When I woke up, it was very early in the morning; even though I’d been up nearly all night, I hadn’t been able to sleep in late since before the war. I immediately got out of bed, threw on my clothes, and went to see Padmé. The medical droids had moved her and the twins into a different room, where she would recover and the droids would make sure that she didn’t become ill after childbirth. 

When I walked in, she and the twins were still asleep. Though I dared not wake any of them, I wandered over to where Luke and Leia were asleep in separate bassinets. Now, they were dressed in plain white onesies. They slept on their backs, breathing so softly I could barely hear. Luke had one of his arms stretched out, and he moved his head a bit so I thought that I had woken him, but he remained asleep, to my relief. They looked so peaceful when asleep, and they were so small, smaller than I’d thought they would be; when I looked at them, I was overcome with love and adoration. More than that, I felt a duty to protect them--to make sure that nothing bad ever happened to them. The thought of letting anything bad happen to them made my heart hurt; I didn’t want to imagine what might have become of them if I had completely turned to the dark side. Would they have died with their mother? Or would they have survived while their mother died, and suffered under the empire that I had helped to create? Obi-Wan would have never allowed me to take care of them--they would have likely become Sith, an immense danger to the remaining Jedi. Who would have taken care of them? The only family that I had was my stepbrother Owen Lars on Tatooine, whom I’d met once--I couldn’t imagine him taking care of my children. Padmé's family hated me and Padmé's decision to marry me, so I didn’t know if they would have willingly taken care of Luke and Leia. Obi-Wan couldn’t have taken care of Luke and Leia himself; Sidious would have found them easily. What if Padmé had survived even if I had turned to the dark side? I knew that she wouldn’t have come with me, at least not at first--it went against everything she believed in. Would she have kept trying to convince me to return to the light? Or would she have given up on me, like everyone else had? Would she have taken care of the twins herself, or would she have hidden them, fearing that Sidious wanted them for himself? What would Sidious have done to her, if he found her? That was another question that I didn’t want to know the answer to.

I sat down in a chair next to Padmé's bed. I tried not to think of what could have been, and instead tried to think about what might be now that I had turned back to the light. Would Sidious come after me? If he did, I knew that Sidious would try to turn me back to the dark, and if I refused, then he would kill me. Even though Sidious and I had been friends for 13 years, I knew that Sidious, as a Sith Lord, would have no mercy for a Jedi. The Sith cared only about themselves.

I didn’t have time to think about the future any further, as Leia awoke and began to cry loudly. I immediately stood up and walked over to where she lay. I picked her up and cradled her in my arms.

“Shhh,” I whispered. “It’s okay. You’re okay. Please don’t cry.”

She continued to cry, and I heard Padmé groan as she woke up. “I think she’s hungry,” Padmé yawned. “Bring her over here.”

I went to Padmé's side, handing Leia to her. “Are you feeding her yourself?” I asked.

“Yes,” Padmé replied. 

As a woman of her status, Padmé had the choice to have a wet nurse feed her child, but she chose to feed them herself; the thought brought a smile to my face.

I kissed Padmé's forehead. “I love you,” I said.

Padmé looked up at me. “I know.”

I burst out laughing. “Thanks a lot, Padmé.”

Padmé grinned, at her own sense of humor. She pulled up her blanket and then pulled up her gown, exposing own of her breasts. She put Leia’s mouth to her nipple so that she could feed. I looked on, with curiosity, as I had never seen a baby fed before, but I also looked on with love, seeing my wife and child together and seeing how much Padmé already loved Leia.

Luke began to cry, too; Leia’s wailing had woken him up. I rushed over to where Luke lay, and picked him up in my arms. I went back over to Padmé’s side as I looked on Luke, my son. 

“He must be hungry, too,” Padmé noted. “Hold him up while I feed him. I don’t think I can hold two babies at once.”

“Can you feed two babies at once?” I asked.

“I have two boobs, Ani,” she replied.

“Alright,” I laughed.

I held Luke as Padmé fed him. I wanted things to always be like this--Padmé, Luke, Leia, Obi-Wan, and I, as a happy family. However, I knew that things couldn’t always be this way, perhaps never. Sidious, until he was defeated, would come after us all, trying to turn Padmé and I to his side. Even if he failed to do so, he would still take Luke and Leia and train them in his ways, indoctrinate them with the same lies he had told me. 

Obi-Wan sauntered into the recovery room, coming to stand beside me. “How are the twins this morning?” he asked. I could tell that he was genuinely concerned about their well-being.

“They’re doing quite well,” I replied, “and Padmé seems to be recovering steadily.”

“Good,” Obi-Wan said, “and how are you this morning, Anakin?”

I thought for a moment about that. “I am a lot of things right now, Master Obi-Wan,” I answered. “I am both relieved and excited to have a family this morning, but I am concerned that they will be gone the next.”

“That won’t happen, Anakin,” Obi-Wan attempted to reassure me. “We will go to every extent possible to protect them from harm.” He cleared his throat. “Master Yoda has requested a meeting with us.”

I had a feeling that I knew exactly what it would be about. “Alright,” I replied. Luke and Leia were done feeding, so I carried each of them separately back to their bassinets and laid them down gently. I kissed Padmé on the forehead before I departed with Obi-Wan. “Please, have the medical droids contact me if you have even the slightest pain.”

She reached up and ran her fingers through my hair. “I will, Ani,” she said, softly.

Obi-Wan and I left the room and went to the right down the corridor. The room that we went to was not far from where Padmé and the twins were, to my relief; I could go to her quickly if anything went wrong. The room was almost entirely white, just as the recovery room had been, and almost all of the space in the room was taken up by a table surrounded by chairs; this room had clearly been used for meetings before. Master Yoda sat facing away from us when we entered, at the head of the table, but turned in his chair when he sensed our presence. We sat down on either side of him. I knew that he could sense my fear.

“Master Yoda,” I acknowledged him, bowing my head in a form of salute.

“Master Yoda,” Obi-Wan began, “do you know any more of what Sidious's plans are?”

“Clouded are his plans,” Yoda responded. “Looking for Skywalker, he is.”

I shivered and sunk down in my chair.

“Tempted by the dark side, again you will be,” Yoda said to me, “but defeat him, you must.”

“Do you mean that I...I--I have to kill him?” I stuttered. 

“Defeat him, only you can,” Yoda replied. 

“But Master Yoda, Obi-Wan is much more experienced than I,” I said, “and you’re stronger than Obi-Wan or I could ever hope to become.”

“Humbled, you are,” Yoda noted, “but stronger than I, you will be. Your destiny, it is.”

“I can’t kill him, Master Yoda,” I said. “I’m not strong enough.”

“Master Yoda, I don’t think Anakin is in the right state of mind to fight Sidious right now,” Obi-Wan said. “If he’s in Sidious's presence, he could easily be turned back to the dark side.”

“It’s not that,” I argued. “He was one of my closest friends for 13 years. I trusted him with everything. How can I kill him?”

“Anakin, if you don’t kill him, he will kill thousands, maybe millions of people,” Obi-Wan responded.

“You’re right,” I admitted, “but why do I have to kill him? Both of you could do it just as well as I could, possibly better.”

“Foreseen it, I have,” Yoda answered. “Defeat him, Obi-Wan and I cannot. Die, we will, at his hand, if defeat him, we try.”

I couldn’t let Obi-Wan die; I wouldn’t. “Then I will kill him,” I said. “I swear on the Jedi code that I will.”

“But not yet, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said. “I won’t risk losing you to the dark side again.” He looked at me with genuine love and concern, and I knew that I could never let him down; not again. I could tell that Yoda sensed our emotions, and that he disapproved; even Obi-Wan and I’s friendship went against the Jedi code, as Jedi were not supposed to have attachment, not even friendly attachment.

“Is that all?” I asked, after a long, awkward silence. 

“Meditate on your actions, you will,” Yoda explained. “Only then, within yourself, find peace and discover the truth, you will.”

I nodded; I’d always hated meditation, but after what I’d done, I didn’t have a right to complain.

“Bound to your Jedi vows, you are,” Yoda continued, “and serve the Jedi, your children will.”

I was confused. “Shouldn’t I be expelled from the Jedi order?” I asked.

“Known of you and Senator Amidala, I have, for a long time,” Yoda replied. “Few Jedi, there are. Lose one, we cannot.”

“Are there anymore Jedi besides us three?” I asked.

“Know, as far as I do, no,” Yoda answered. “But remaining force sensitives, there are.”

“But there’s little help that small children can give us,” I said, “so are we going to enlist the aid of force sensitives who are older but not Jedi?”

“There are surviving members of the AgriCorps that could help us,” Obi-Wan said, “and other former initiates who never went on to become padawans spread across the galaxy. We will all have to help to further train them so that they can fight the clone army.”

“There’s only so many,” I pointed out. “How are we going to be a match for thousands of clone troopers?”

“We don’t need to annihilate all of them,” Obi-Wan explained. “We just need to get into Sidious's personal library, where all of the data for the clone troopers is stored. Then, we need to find a way to deactivate or remove the chips inside of the clone troopers that are allowing him to control them. That has to be done before we can get to Sidious. Otherwise, he’ll have all of the clone troopers surrounding him and we won’t be able to get to him.”

I shook my head. “No. He’s waiting for me; he’ll let me come to him. He’ll want a fair lightsaber battle; he won’t use the clone troopers. When I kill him, all we need is the data to control the clone troopers ourselves. If we try to get the data first, we take the chance of being caught in the act. We won’t be able to kill Sidious if we get captured, and he’ll try to turn all of us to the dark side, especially me.”

“You’re right,” Obi-Wan admitted. Yoda nodded in agreement. I was amazed; they’d never admitted that I was right before.

“Do we have the support of any senators?” I asked. 

“Senator Organa and a few others have pledged their support to our cause,” Obi-Wan said. “We think that there are more, but they are too afraid of being discovered by Sidious and subsequently executed.”

“What about Padmé and the children?” I asked. “Will they be kept safe?”

“We will do everything in our power to keep them safe,” Obi-Wan answered

“Depends on them, the future of the Jedi order does,” Yoda said.

“Have you foreseen this?” I asked.

“I have,” Yoda replied. He cleared his throat. “Discussed what we needed to, we have.” He motioned for us to leave.

“That’s all?” I asked. “My punishment isn’t any greater than what you have described?”

“Redeemed, you will be, when you defeat Sidious,” Yoda said. 

“We only need to be sure that you are in the right state of mind to confront him,” Obi-Wan added.

I bowed my head in submission. “Yes, Master.”

As we walked out of the meeting room together, Obi-Wan asked, “How many times need I remind you that I am not your master anymore?” He laughed.

“I like calling you ‘Master,’” I replied, “and I know you like it too, which makes me like it even more.”

Obi-Wan blushed. “That’s...q-quite kind of you, Anakin,” he stuttered, looking at the wall instead of at me.

I wasn’t sure what I said that made him so nervous; nevertheless, I was enjoying it. It wasn’t often that Obi-Wan outwardly showed emotion, so when he did, especially when I was the cause of it, it brought a smile to my lips.

When I walked in to see Padmé, without Obi-Wan, she was now sitting up in her bed, with pillows to prop her up. C-3PO was on the opposite side of the room, pouring her a drink. When Padmé saw me, her face lit up. “Hey, Ani.”

“Padmé.” I went straight to her bedside, leaning over and kissing her on the forehead. “How are you?”

“I feel wonderful,” she replied.

“Wonderful?” I grinned. “You just gave birth to two children less than 12 hours ago.”

“I know,” she said, “and I feel wonderful.”

“I’m so grateful that you do,” I said, taking her hand in mine and rubbing my thumb across the back of her hand. “You have no idea... I was so afraid for you, Padmé. I tried not to show it, because I wanted to be strong for you--but I was so afraid.”

“Anakin, I knew you were afraid,” Padmé said. “I know you.”

I laughed. “Have the twins woken up at all since I left earlier with Obi-Wan?”

“No, they’ve been asleep since you laid them down,” Padmé replied. “What did you discuss with Obi-Wan and Yoda?”

I explained to her in full detail everything that we’d talked about, and what the future would entail.

When I was done, she said, “Anakin, I don’t want our children to become Jedi.”

I was surprised by her reaction. “Master Yoda orders it.”

“Since when did you care what Master Yoda told you to do?” Padmé asked. “I don’t want our children taken from us when they’re little more than two years old; I don’t want them to grow up without a family, without knowing love.”

“With the Jedi order so diminished, it might not have to be that way,” I said.

“Maybe,” Padmé said, “but if they should try to take our children from us, I won’t let them. They have no right to deprive our children of their family when they didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I agree,” I said, “but hopefully, it won’t come to that.” I caressed her cheek and kissed her softly on the lips. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

“I love you most.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, feedback is greatly appreciated!


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